365 T-shirts - the reasoning

This blog should be sub-titled: a journal of my life in geek.

I get my geek on with things about which I am geeky: comic books, Baseball, Ultimate, science fiction, my favorite bands, books I have read and loved, and Jungian psychology to name some of the most frequently traversed subjects.

I began this project simply as a way to count my T-shirts. I own a lot of T-shirts. But how many do I have? Do I have 365? We shall find out.

When I started this blog, I thought about how each T-shirt means something to me. I bought it for a reason, after all. I set myself the task to post an entry about a new T-shirt every day as a way to simply write something every day, a warm up for writing fiction, which is my passion. Writing is like exercise. Warm ups are good for exercise. But after completing a month of blogging about T-shirts, I have learned that this blog serves as a journal; it documents my life in geek, sort of a tour of my interests in pop culture. The blog serves as a tool for self-inventory, for assessment and analysis of self and the origins of self, for stepping through the process of individuation in catalogues, lists, and ranks.

The blog also made me aware that I have some serious gaps in my T-shirt ownership, and I am in the process of collecting some new T-shirts for several of the great popular culture icons that I truly love. Stay tuned.

I was also a bit surprised that people checked out my blog and continue to check it, read it, and even comment on it. I am very appreciative of this readership. Please feel free to share your thoughts in my comments section. I will respond.

Also, please note that I have moved the original introductory text to the side bar. And now, I present to you the most recent entry of 365 T-shirts: a journal of my life in geek. Thank you for reading.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Plans and changes. Once again, I had a shirt all planned for the blog today and other things happening in my life derailed it.

Yesterday, I took an extended work break to go to the Kalamazoo County Fair with my dad and my brother-in-law, Noel.

It's always nice to spend time with my family, my Dad and Noel in this case. We had a nice time at the fair, though a bit short. I ate half an elephant ear and drank some lemonade. My Dad had a soft serve ice cream. Noel drank a Coke. Not that these facts are exciting, but I am making note of them for my own permanent record.

We were all tempted by several rides and games, but we did not take advantage of any. We toured the 4H exhibits and all the livestock. We walked the midway, had our snack, and then I had to get back to work.

I decided to wear one of my favorite Ultimate shirts, one I designed, using a swiped and "unofficial" Calvin and Hobbes as the logo (drawn by my friend Neil Southwell). This was the shirt for the 2002 Centrals Ultimate Tournament that I used to host here in Kalamazoo. It was our best ever with almost two dozen teams and with women's and co-ed divisions to go along with the usual open division. It was a lot of fun.

I am keeping this entry short and sharing photos because I want to get ahead on other posts for future blogs, as I have a busy week running up until my next "break" from the blog, which will hit on August 16th.

WEEKLY COMIC LIST

I have found more time to read comics lately. I have needed this down time to recuperate energy from some busy weeks and demands on myself and my schedule. Green Arrow jumped to the top of my stack last month after I caught up on the title and started enjoying the Lemire run. The Fanfare boys also convinced me to buy Lemire's new book Trillium, which has an interesting double-sided effect (more on this in a future post). All New X-Men stays high on the list, and I am starting to see Bendis' master plan in running out a different pre-history for the original X-Men characters. This issue truly sets forth that intention quite well in regards to romance with Jean Grey ('Nuff Said!).

I have a weakness for Howard Chaykin and for Buck Rogers, so I had to try the first issue of that series. Almost missed buying Sheltered, which was a pick of Andrew, who works at Fanfare, and so far I do like it. I might re-order these as I read, which I often do because I may be eager to read Kick Ass and Daredevil: Dark Knights before those Avengers books. The special buy comes along because I am stock-piling for some rest and relaxation, which will start on August 16th when I intend to post easy and very brief dedications to my pajama T-shirts for as much as a full week, though maybe less. I love hiding these little previews deep in my daily text. Did you read to this point and catch my secret preview? Good for you.

Check out Sense of Doubt blog

Hi. Thanks for reading. I closed out daily transmission on March 21st, day 365 of my T-shirt blog-tastic extravaganza spectacular. Currently, I am enjoying a hiatus of total non-transmission or publication for an as yet undetermined period of time. As of the posting of this note (and it's no April Fool's) on 1404.01, I have some unfinished T-shirt blog entries, which will be posted over the next two weeks. After some more blog vacation hiatus, I will resume T-shirt posts on a regular basis, also as yet to be determined (weekly? Twice monthly?) to finish blogging about all the T-shirts that were not featured in the blog year. MEANWHILE, I am posting weekly and somewhat at random over on SENSE OF DOUBT BLOG.

Over there, you will find THE WEEKLY COMIC LIST, the features of occasional T-SHIRTS I AM WEARING THIS WEEK, book

reviews, comic book reviews, and other popular culture nonsense as I have been for a year now but all will go up at SENSE OF DOUBT BLOG and some will direct back here to 365 T-SHIRTS. Ultimately, I will begin Internet publication of my fiction, primarily the comic book satire episodic story called POP! among other projects. So, in summary, 365 T-SHIRTS will continue though intermittently. SENSE OF DOUBT BLOG will host my main blog presence and fiction writing as well as links to any T-shirt posts shared here. I hope you will continue to follow me in my journey as a writer and a content provider. Thank you for your kind attention and time you have spent with me on this and/or any other day this year. I am humbled and blessed by your readership. - chris tower, blogger, originated 1404.01

SiJ - Daguérose

The Catalanian Tapes

ZENИTH

Original Introductory Text

Maybe it's narcissism. I have been wanting to increase my blog presence, and I wanted something that was easy to update, much like my frequent "Facebookery." Hence, 365 T-Shirts. I have a lot of T-Shirts. Some may say that I am somewhat compulsive about buying T-Shirts, owning them, wearing them. Earlier this year (as the blog would have been better started on January 1st), I wondered if I had 365 different T-Shirts. I don't know. Now, obviously, I could count them, but where is the fun in that? Better to post a picture of one per day for an entire year to test whether or not I run out of shirts before 365 days have passed. This hobby means taking and displaying a lot of pictures of me, which is not a prospect that I find thrilling. But the pride of embracing my geeky side and my obvious egotism make for a fine marriage in what I hope will be seen as a whimsical blog for occasional viewing, if not even a regular check in for many of my friends new and old. Thus, I present 365 T-shirts, launched on 1303.22 or as others call it March 22, 2013. Now watch as I fail to keep it going for even a week...